


Mapped in Blood

by konfoz



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, F/M, Mild Blood, Sexual Tension, Vampire AU, Vampire Kylo, Vampire Kylo Ren, vampire!Kylo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 00:02:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20266717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konfoz/pseuds/konfoz
Summary: An old treasure map leads Rey into the woods and into the cave of a handsome vampire





	Mapped in Blood

**Author's Note:**

> reposted as a separate work  
unedited

“Take it.”

Rey jumped up from her crouch on the ground and spun around. Disoriented by her actions and by being caught in a somewhat compromising position, she blinked a few times to meet the stare of the old lady in front of her.

She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, with wide-rimmed glasses that seemed to cover half her face and enlarge her eyes. Her knit sweater and high-waisted pants met at a gleaming belt that highlighted the stacks of bracelets that jangled on the arms planted at her hips.

“I’m sorry?” Rey whispered, her voice grating against her throat.

Even though the words were spoken quietly, they traveled the span of the empty antique shop--an antique shop that was filled to the brim with various knick-knacks and junk, but not people.

It shouldn’t have been surprising, really, that her old scavenger habits bubbled up again when she walked past the store on her way to meet Finn. There weren’t any of these shops near the neighborhood of her orphanage, and Rey had to pull herself away from the eccentric window display and wooden exterior in order to make it to her lunch plans on time.

When Finn got a call from work and had to head back early, Rey tried to conceal and extinguish the elation she felt. It wasn’t that she didn’t love spending time with her best friend, but her thoughts kept straying to the shop and the pull she felt toward it.

Although the store was just like any old antique shop with its vintage furniture and old china, Rey felt like the world settled comfortably on its axis. A sense of content and the smell of thick musk washed over her, and maybe it was because of her love of nuts and bolts and anything shiny as a child that she just stood there, basking in the overall environment of it.

Once her little moment passed, she noticed the stare of a woman at the glass counter to the right of the doors, so Rey gave her a sheepish smile and began exploring.

Now, that woman probably thought that Rey was about to steal something from right under her nose.

About an hour after she came in, Rey was inspecting a retro sewing machine when her eyes caught hold of a wooden crate hidden behind an old oil painting. A heavy Persian rug was draped over it, and Rey had to push it out of the way and wait till a layer of dust settled to see the item underneath.

It really was just a nondescript wooden chest with rusted hardware, but she felt the same call to it as she did with the store itself. It was as if she suddenly had tunnel vision, and the only coherent thought in her head centered around opening it and finding out its contents. Lowering herself to her knees, Rey’s hand brushed the unlocked relic in reverence for a few seconds; the cold of the metal did nothing to deter her attention. The crate creaked as she lifted the lid, but Rey didn’t even have it in her to wince at the loud sound as she peeked inside.

It was all but empty, except for some rolled-up parchment tied with a string of twine. Confusion and intrigue filled Rey’s mind.

_ All this for some paper? _

As she was reaching for it, the old lady from the front counter had snuck up behind her.

“Take it,” she repeated, her eyes glowing from everything from the yellow light of the store. It was as if her eyes contained the secrets of all the items in the store and more.

Rey stuttered, “Uh, I don’t have any money.”

“I know. I’m giving it to you.” A gentle smile graced the woman’s face.

Blinking, Rey let the words settle over her before turning back around and gingerly grabbing the parchment from inside. She stared at it for a second, feeling the weight of the heavy-duty paper, before facing the lady again and opening her mouth. Before she could utter a word, the woman jumped in.

“It’s yours now, girl. It will lead you to what you seek.”

She was thrown off by her cryptic wording, but whatever reply she was about to retort with deflated at the knowing look in the lady’s eyes.

Rey settled on a safer question instead. “What is it?”

“A map. It has not seen the light of the world for quite some time, but it has found you, and you it.”

“I just stumbled on it by accident--”

“It is no accident. Nobody has touched that chest since I opened this place forty years ago, and if it was calling you, you must answer that call.”

Rey didn’t know how to react or what to think, but the way the lady was staring made her want to hide under a rock. She glanced down at the rolled-up paper again, and then pocketed it in her tote bag under the lady’s imploring gaze.

She stuck out her hand to shake it. “Thank you, Ms…?” Rey trailed off.

“Kanata, but you may call me Maz.”

* * * * *

“I can’t believe I’m doing this. I can’t believe I’m doing this.” Rey repeated and muttered under her breath.

A trek through the woods was definitely not on her list of things to do by herself, let alone with the cover of sunlight slipping away as the day wore on. She packed an LED headband to help her see the map she held close to her body, but other than that she was essentially going into this blind. The weather wasn’t ideal for her expedition--the air stung, and the thin parka she wore crinkled with every small movement.

Only when Rey exited the shop and made it home did she unravel the parchment paper she had stuck in her bag. The map seemed fairly simple when she first looked at it; it looked like a typical treasure map. Most of the natural landmarks in her town--such as mysterious rock formations and small reservoirs--were easy to spot at the edges of the paper, but the majority of the space was taken up by the large expanse of woods a little bit outside of the town line. Many people believed that the land was uncharted territory, and they feared the wildlife that resided in its depths.

Yet apparently, someone  _ did  _ chart out the woods. At least, a large portion of it. Whoever did so took some very meticulous notes, even adding a legend and arrows pointing to areas that should be avoided. The entire map seemed to be focused on a small point in the bottom corner of the yellowed page. The map was printed in black ink, but a vicious red circle centered on a small area that looked to be the destination point.

Rey didn’t even know why she decided to follow the map, let alone at night. Maybe it was because of what Maz said, or because she knew that she wouldn’t have been able to sleep without finding out what the map led to. Either way, Rey would have never imagined avoiding tree roots and following an old sketch to an unknown location when she woke up this morning.

The only thing that kept the cold out and her insides warm was the possibility of finding something extraordinary.

She huffed out a breath that she could see in the air. Stopping to take a sip of water, she reconsulted the map to make sure that she was headed in the right direction. If her calculations were correct, all she needed to do was circle around an area marked as “DO NOT CROSS” and then she’d make it to the end.

The journey took a lot longer than expected as Rey made sure to give a wide berth between her and the supposedly dangerous area, so she lost even more light and time. She knew how dangerous it was to be out here alone, but Finn could track her from his phone if something went wrong and she disappeared.

Rey was so lost in her thoughts about the end result of this journey that she didn’t see a small dip in the ground. Before she even had time to process what was happening, she fell face-first onto the unforgiving dirt.

She hissed as she stood up on wobbly legs. Her cheek was stinging, and her knees were scraped and bleeding. Her hands didn’t fare that well either, but she didn’t think to pack a first-aid kit with her. When she removed her parka, she saw the scratches on her elbows and forearms too, so she stuffed the jacket in her pack to avoid getting blood on the article. The best thing she could do was try to clean off as much of the blood as she could, which meant that she had to use the rest of her water.

The more time she spent in these woods, the more she regretted her decision to come.

By the time she made it to the end, a full moon hung proudly in the sky and she could no longer see the path in front of her, let alone the supposed “treasure” itself. Large rock formations stood in her path--some jutting out of the ground like spikes--which made her more confused than ever.

_ Congratulations: you just wasted hours wandering through the woods to find a pile of rocks. Was it worth it, Rey? _

A stubborn frown on her face, Rey walked the length of the rock wall. It was easily the size of a football field, but her doubts flew away at the sight of the entrance to a cave.

In broad daylight the opening would have been easier to spot, because it was massive. However, in the dim light of her LED headband, the cave seemed ominous and creepy. It was as if waves of darkness were spilling from the opening, hoping to escape from the mysteries within.

Rey hesitated. She came all this way because of a random map. She considered turning back and exploring the cave another day, now that she knew it was here, but who knows whether or not she’d find this place again? The map is basic at best, and she felt compelled to see out her journey.

With a deep breath, she made her way inside.

* * * * *

It took her about three minutes to see a flickering light deeper in the cave, and another three to make it to the space that opened up into a large, dome-shaped chamber.

There were more archways to different paths leading into dark hallways. Torches lined the walls and lit up the entirety of the area, and rocks--similar to the ones outside of the cave--were hanging from the ceiling like dried icicles.

Almost as if in a trance, Rey shut off her flashlight and marveled at the beauty of the architecture. She went up to a geode embedded in the wall and stroked the white crystals that sparkled in the light of the torches.

“You are bleeding” A deep voice interrupted her daze.

Rey whirled around. A man wearing a black overcoat and dark jeans stood in front of her, his hair quiffed and curling on his shoulders. His stance was relaxed--hands inside his pockets--and he looked more perplexed than irked.

But even in the distance and in the flickering light, Rey could see that his irises were cherry red.

She froze, and raised her hand to touch her cheek. She must have scratched at it, because when she drew her hand in front of her face, it was streaked with blood. It took her a few seconds to think of a response.

“I fell.”

His eyes roamed over her, constantly going back and focusing on her injured cheek, and in the silence Rey tried to read the man in front of her.

With an unsteady voice, she said, “I should get going.”

The attempt at an exit sounded lame to her own ears, and it was then that the man’s eyes glanced at the map in her other hand.

“Where are you off to, little bird?”

Rey startled at the nickname, but she ignored the endearment and said, “I made a mistake coming here.”

He ignored her answer. “Did you get that from Maz?” His smooth voice wrapped around her like a warm blanket.

She gaped at him. “You know Maz?”

“She is the only one other than me who knows how to find this place,” he explained, “and if you have that map then that means she either gave it to you or you stole it.”

Rey straightened and threw a scowl at him. “I didn’t steal it. I found it in her shop and she let me have it.”

The silence stretched. The more Rey analyzed the figure in front of her, the more put-off she was by his appearance. He looked like a regular person, aside from the white of his skin and the red of his eyes.

Out of nowhere, before she could even think over what she was about to say, Rey blurted out, “You’re not human, are you?”

As soon as the words were out, Rey knew the answer. Maybe it was the fatigue talking, or the reckless part of her that decided to make this journey in the first place, but she figured that if her life could take more than one weird turn a day, might as well go with it.

The man seemed to be contemplating his answer, and Rey was about to take back her words when he said, “No, little one, I am not.”

Another tense silence. At this point, she figured that if the man hadn’t hurt her yet, he wasn’t planning to. Her intuition could have been wrong, but his composed demeanor contrasted with that idea. And the more Rey stared at him, the more she read the emotion in his eyes; it was the same expression she had before meeting Finn for the first time, before she left Jakku.

Loneliness. He looked utterly lonely.

Rey’s stomach clenched at the thought, because she knew the feeling all too well.

“You are not afraid.”

He said it more like a fact than a question. 

She blinked at his assumption, until she realized that she really wasn’t scared at all. Thrown off, yes, but not afraid.

“You haven’t given me a reason to be,” she replied, her voice losing a bit of edge.

The side of his mouth quirked up, and Rey’s eyes zeroed in on the fang that peaked out the side of his mouth. 

He motioned to his own cheek. ‘The blood, let me clean it up for you.”

As soon as she nodded her assent, he appeared right in front of her eyes. Her rational mind was screaming at her to run and not trust this man so easily, but it startled her at how little she seemed to care; there was something that drew her to him, as if she was a comet pulled into his gravitational pull. Before she could take a step back at the proximity, his cold hand gently grabbed her chin to tilt her face to the side, his warm breath hitting her cheek. 

Rey couldn’t tear her eyes away from his. Even though his focus was on assessing her injury, she was drawn to the brilliance of his red irises and the black rings surrounding them. It was obvious that this man was anything but human, but the way he caressed her jaw was gentle and feather-light.

The moment she felt his lips against her cheek, it felt like her brain was hotwired. All of her nerves zeroed in on the icy feel of his mouth dragging lightly over the wound, and Rey sucked in a breath.

She should have been shoving him away, yelling at him, slapping him, something other than just standing there, but when the warm slide of his tongue hit her cheek, she was a goner.

She felt the soft wetness of it glide over her skin, and it took her a moment to realize that he was licking the blood away. The air around them felt tight and scorching, but the bliss that came with his ministrations washed through her chest and cascaded down to her toes. It felt like she was floating, and her eyes slid shut on their own volition.

It was over before she knew it, but she couldn’t help the whimper that escaped unbidden out of her mouth. When she opened her eyes and started to awaken from the haze, she noticed that his hands were cupping her face and his thumbs were brushing over her cheekbones.

His eyes were a brighter red, if that was even possible, and he was staring down at her as if he didn’t know whether to devour her whole or ravish her on the floor of the cavern.

That had to have been the most erotic experience that Rey has ever had.

He slowly pulled away, but the electric charge of the moment still bound them together. Rey swayed on her feet, but without looking at him she could feel the weight of his stare, heavier than gravity.

“I-”she stopped, then reached up to touch her cheek. Her fingers came away dry.

“I am sorry if that was too forward,” he said, but he looked anything but.

Rey just nodded, the last of the dizziness disappearing. Her eyes fell to his large hands, which were clenched in fists by his side. “Thank you for-”, she couldn’t think of the right word, “treating me.”

His mouth flashed a dangerous smile, his sharp incisors peeking out again. “It was my  _ pleasure _ .”

Liquid heat melted in the base of Rey’s stomach, and she figured that she needed to steer the conversation away to something else, something that wouldn’t result in her sliding up against him to ask for a repeat of that show.

“What’s your name?”

The look her gave her was positively enticing. “I am known as Lord Ren, but you, little bird,” suddenly he was in front of her again, his hand grazing the back of her neck, “you may call me Kylo.”


End file.
